Thomas Burns (bishop)
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| Denomination | Catholic Church |
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| Senior posting | |
| See | Bishopric of the Forces |
| Title | Bishop of the Forces |
| Period in office | May 24, 2002 — present |
| Successor | incumbent |
| Personal | |
| Date of birth | June 3, 1944 |
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Styles of Thomas Burns (bishop) |
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| Reference style | The Right Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Bishop |
| Posthumous style | not applicable |
Thomas Matthew Burns, SM (born June 3, 1944) is a Latin Rite English prelate of the Catholic Church. He currently serves as Bishop of the Forces, and as such, acts as the leading Catholic chaplain in the British Armed Forces.
[edit] Biography
He was born in Belfast, but his family later moved to Lancashire. After studying at St. Mary's College, Blackburn, the Sixth Form in Exeter, and a monastery in Paignton, Burns was ordained to the priesthood on 16 December 1971, for the Society of Mary.
He then did pastoral work, taught economics in Sidcup and Blackburn, and served as a chaplain in the Royal Navy. Burns left the Royal Navy in 1992 and became Bursar General of the Marists' Headquarters in Rome, but returned to the Navy in 1994.
On 24 May 2002, he was appointed to head the military ordinariate of Great Britain, the Bishopric of the Forces. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 18 June from Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, with Bishop Francis Walmsley and Archbishop Patrick Kelly serving as co-consecrators.
Burns has been a vociferous critic of the UK Ministry of Defence, complaining that troops in Iraq were "frustrated by restrictions, checks and delays that are placed on them but not on their opponents", and that their "activities are often jeopardised by poor equipment, outmoded vehicles and inadequate apparel" ([1]).
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